Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Elevated Fire Danger by Wednesday

If you stepped outside yesterday, you definitely felt a difference in the air mass. Not only was it very warm for February standards with a high temperature in Rockford of 69°, it was also more humid with dew points climbing into the 50's.

A weak cold front passing Tuesday morning will begin to usher in drier air as winds turn to the west. Another system passes north of the area on Wednesday and winds turn to the southwest. With a tight pressure gradient over the area with that passing system, winds will strengthen and will gust up to 25mph. With dry air advecting in, relative humidity will drop below 30%. So with a dry and warm air mass in place, and then gusty winds on top of that, there will be an elevated fire danger through the afternoon.

You'll want to limit any burning through Wednesday evening and into early Thursday.

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